A straight answer from someone actually on your side.
I help new and small business owners work out what their business actually needs Next, and what to skip.
Whether you're just starting out or already running and it's not quite working, I'll give you a straight read on what will actually move your business. No pitch, from someone who's built businesses before.
Business Planning + Branding
I work out how your idea makes money,
then help you do it.
Business Planning + Branding
I work out how your idea makes money, then help you make it.
It might be a new business, a product, even a rental property, or a buiness you already running that's plateaued. I look at what's out there, find the angle that makes yours the one people pick, and write you a full plan to make it happen. Then I build it.
East Fremantle. Free. No pitch.
Across my career:
I'm someone actually on your side.
You do not need more “marketing”. You need to know what the business actually needs next and what to skip.
Most specialists begin with what they sell. A logo designer starts with a logo. A web designer starts with a website. I start with the business itself: who is buying, why they would choose you, what makes the numbers work, and what actually deserves your money next.
13+
Years of Experience
170k+
Online Audience Built
10k+
Products Sold
8
Businesses Grown
Four Different Clients
Whatever you're starting, it works the same way.
Four different businesses came to me asking for different things. The point is not to sell the same package four times. It is to find what would make the customer choose them over everyone else.
01. Potter
Certain she needed more marketing.
More posts, more markets, more spend. The actual problem was that nobody could work out what she was selling or why it was worth the money. So I left the marketing alone. I developed a workshop product out of what she was already doing, priced and positioned it properly, and rebuilt the site so interest turned into bookings instead of questions.
Problem: Unclear Offer • Fix: Product + Position
02. Builder
Plenty of the wrong work.
The work was never the problem. It was good work sitting inside a business that looked like every other builder, so every other builder's clients turned up. I re-branded the whole thing toward the end of the market the work already belonged. Then we kept going, because bigger jobs need systems to run them and people to deliver them.
Problem: Wrong Customer • FIX: RePosition + BRand
03. Coffee
They wanted a name and a logo.
Neither was worth touching yet. A crowded market with a dozen roasters already doing good coffee means the name only matters once you know what it has to stand for. So that came first. Who the customer actually is, what they care about, and the one position nobody else had claimed. Once we have the position everything else is built off of that.
Problem: Crowded Market • Fix: Positoning
04. Vineyard
Just land, and a rough idea.
No vineyard, no accommodation, just a name and a vision. I worked out who would actually pay to stay, what they'd want when they got there, and what the whole thing needed to be to justify the price. Then the brand, and a written plan covering every step between a bare paddock, building a wine label and taking bookings.
Problem: New market • Fix: Plan, Position and Execution
01
Conversation
Free, 25 minutes. You tell me what you're working on or what's not working. I'll tell you straight what I think and what I'd do first. Plenty of people leave with a clear next step, go and do it themselves, and never need me again. That's a good outcome.
02
The plan
The market you're going into, who your customer actually is, the angle that makes yours the one they pick, what to charge, and every step between now and open, in the order to do them. You get it as a proper document you can hold and work from. Hand it to anyone and they'll know what to build.
03
The build
The name, the brand, the website, the photos, the systems to run it once it's busy. Whatever the plan says matters, and only that. Some of it you'll want to do yourself or take elsewhere, which is fine. You'll know exactly why each piece is on the list.
04
Adapt
Once it's live I look at what's landing and what isn't, and adjust. This is where most service providers go silent. A plan that can't move when the real world does isn't much of a plan.
Hi I'm Ross, There Two ways people end up here.
You're starting something.
A hundred things you could spend money on and no idea which ones matter yet. Logo, website, ads, a name, a van. Everyone you talk to sells one of them. I'll tell you what to do first, what to leave for later, and roughly what it should cost.
You're already running.
It works, but not the way it should. The wrong customers keep turning up, every conversation gets stuck on price, and explaining what you do takes longer than it should. I'll work out why, then fix it.
Either way it starts the same. A conversation, then a straight answer.
I'm Ross. I've been doing it for over ten years.
Before this I co-founded a production company that worked with every major TV network in Perth. I saw how brands get sold to people up close, and what actually makes someone buy.
Then I built another business Flat Pack FX, growing an audience of over 170,000 and selling more than 10,000 products in one of the most competitive spaces going. I still run it today. That part matters most, because I'm not someone talking about this stuff from the outside. It's my own money on the line, every week.
​
It didn't work straight away. For a long stretch I was making things I thought were good instead of things people were actually looking for. Once I worked out what the customer needed to see and got out of my own way, revenue went up and stayed up. So when I tell you what's worth doing and what to skip, it isn't theory.
Outside looking in
I look at you the way your customer does.
I've seen it first hand sitting in the meetings. Most branding gets built from the inside out. But your customer is standing outside, giving you only a few seconds to work out whether you're for them. So that's where I start. And because I'm not trying to sell you any one thing, I'll tell you what to skip. Most people can't, because they are only trying to sell you the one service they offer.
How you benefit
Here is what my process brings.
Etchstone is not all just about “making a website” or “branding.” Yes, those are some of the services I offer, but the first step is to understand your business deeply enough so the service recommendations meet your needs. That's why the process feels more like research and strategy, than a typical creative service.
01
People understand you quickly.
People stop asking what it is you actually do. The right customer works it out in a few seconds, and the wrong one goes somewhere else.
02
The Conversation moves off price.
When someone can see why you're the better option, they pay what the work is worth without haggling.
03
You will stop second guessing.
You stop guessing what to spend money on next. The plan says what comes first, how you'll benefit and what it costs, so you can get on with the job.
The logo guy sees a logo. The web guy sees a website. I see what the business needs.
I'm interested in how your customer sees you. Who they actually are, what they're worried about, and what would make them stop. Everything after that, the name, the look, the words, or whatever you need gets built to answer it.
You can get a logo for two hundred dollars, a website for a thousand. Plenty of people do. The problem isn't the quality of the work, it's that nobody asked what the business needed before making it.
So you end up with a name that doesn't say anything, a site built to look nice rather than sell, and prices set by guessing what the bloke down the road charges. It all works, technically. It just doesn't bring anyone in. or do anything for your bottom line.
​
Then in eighteen months you do the whole lot again, properly, and the cheap version turns out to have been the expensive one. Getting the thinking right first doesn't cost much more. Quite often it costs less, because half the things on your list turn out not to be worth doing yet.
The real cost
Why the cheap version costs you more.
This IS for you if
You've got an idea, a property, a skill or a business and you're not sure what to do with it
You'd rather know what not to spend money on than be sold a package
You're prepared to hear that part of your plan might not work
You want someone who'll build it, not just advise from the sidelines
You're happy to make decisions and get moving once you've got a plan
This ISN'T for you if
You want to run ads, or social posts scheduled every week
You're looking for the cheapest possible solution or quote
Your not open to exploring ideas or making nessecary changes
You already know exactly what you want and just want a cheap option
You're only interested in a marketing and advertising solution.
My CLIENT RESULTS
Different thinking.
Different outcome.
"I was immediately impressed with Ross' ability and unique perspective on my business."
I thought a new logo was all I needed. Ross gave me a completely different way of looking at it. He didn't change the work, he changed who we were going after and how we looked to them. Then he rebranded the whole thing so it lined up with that customer.
Ryan • Manson Construction
"Ross did the groundwork properly researching my business before we made any decisions."
I've been in finance a long time, but starting my own thing meant working out where I'd sit in the market. Ross mapped out who was already there and where the opening was. That's what everything since has been built on.
CALVIN
FINANCE BROKER
"Ross came at it from a completely different angle to the one I'd been taking."
I'd been focused on running ads and more marketing. He was more interested in what I was actually selling. With a properly positioned workshops, pricing strategy and website, I've now got regualr weekly bookings.
TESSA
ANYCLAY
Questions
Before you ask.
A designer makes what you ask for. An agency sells you what they make. A consultant can only covers one aspect of a business. I'm different, because I work for you to understand what the business needs first, then build whatever is required. Think of it this way, if you went to an advertising agency they would sell you an advertising package. Don't get me wrong, there is a time when ads are the next best step, but my first questions are going to be why do you need them, and what is going to be more beneficial for you right now.
That's the best time. Most of the expensive mistakes happen before anything is built, when people spend money on a name, a logo and a website before anyone has checked whether there's a market and what makes theirs different.
I'll tell you honestly what I think. It's rarely a flat no. Usually the idea is sound and it's the angle that needs changing. That's what the first conversation is for, and it costs you nothing.
No. Plenty of people take the plan and build it themselves or hand it to someone else. It's written so anyone can work from it.
Works the same either way. A business that's gone quiet usually has the same problem as one that hasn't started, which is that nobody can tell what makes it the one to pick.
The plan takes about 2 weeks. The build depends on what's in it, and you'll know the timeframe and all pricing before you commit to anything.
I'm in East Fremantle. Happy to meet anywhere around Perth, and I have worked with people over video too.
Book a time below, lets chat.
Twenty five minutes, free, no pitch. Tell me what you're working on and I'll tell you what I'd do first. If that's all you need, take it and run with it.
Happy to do it over the phone or in person. Book a time below to meet in East Fremantle or email me ross@etchstone.co
